Barr govt's stamp duty policy is gouging ACT property owners

However, Treasurer Andrew Barr is not losing tax revenue, but drowning in stamp duty, because every year of his alleged stamp duty phase-out, including the latest budget, he has failed to make large enough cuts to the rates of duty.

From all the evidence before us, he has fed at least the appropriate amount into our annual property rates to account for cuts to stamp duty he should have made.

In 2024-25, stamp duty for owner-occupied residences purchased under $1.455 million will be just $234 less than it was last year. At that rate of progress, it will take until the year 2170 for the stamp duty (of $34,270 this year) on a $1 million purchase to be phased out.

For purchases above $1.455 million, and for any value if not owner occupied, stamp duty has not been reduced by a single cent this year, or any recent year.

How much longer will Canberrans accept their government gouging well over $100 million a year from property purchasers?

The results of the PwC 2023 retirement living census have been released.

According to the report in The Canberra Times there were no reported residents under 65.

How many villages were surveyed? How many residents were surveyed?

There are a couple of residents in my village, including myself, who are under 65.

Wesley W. Widmaier ("What happened to Trump was a shock but not a surprise", July 16) says the attack on Trump was indicative of the increasingly strident rhetoric from both sides of politics in the US.

Trump has lied relentlessly, self-aggrandized repeatedly, encouraged his followers to storm the Capitol building and mocked Nancy Pelosi's husband after he was bashed by an intruder.

Biden has pointed out that Trump is an existential threat to democracy if he becomes president again.

It's hard for me to equate these approaches. Trump is only a threat to US democracy if he gains power again.

He now has the backing of Project 2025 (which he denies knowledge of). This is an organisation working assiduously to ensure that if he is elected he will have the manpower to replace every public servant who does not actively support him.

His likely policies include stopping assistance to the Ukraine and giving Putin the go-ahead to do what he will to NATO members who don't stump up enough money.

Biden is not the one causing the anger and hatred; it is Trump.

He now has a young former opponent (a "never-Trumper" who called him "an idiot") who saw the error of his ways and joined the sycophants to further his own ambitions.

God help us all, especially Ukraine.

Scientists need to be able, where appropriate, to communicate their findings to the wider public in an accessible manner.

It's a pity therefore that Milton Speer and Lance Leslie's interesting article on Southerly Busters (July 10) was marred by their references to wind gusts variously exceeding 14 metres per second and 21 metres per second.

How many readers have a clue as to what metres per second equate to?

For the information of readers, my internet search shows that 14 metres per second is the equivalent of 54kmh and 21 metres per second is 75kmh.

P McCracken is engaging in some historical revisionism by quoting the lyrics to the song about Huey Long (Letters, July 16) and calling FDR a capitalist. FDR did come from wealth, but he was a Democrat and a socialist while in power.

He initiated the New Deal that gave jobs to the unemployed and brought the USA out of the Great Depression. Long complained that FDR's policies did not go far enough.

A recent complaint that SBS's excellent programs on the rise of Hitler revives painful memories misses the point (Letters, July 16). The programs are a warning not to let what happened in 1930s Germany happen in 2020s United States.

Many of the parallels are chilling. That's why we should watch the SBS series on the rise of Nazism and reflect on what the immediate future holds for all people who care about democracy and the rule of law.

Competitors and spectators anticipating the 2024 Paris Olympics may enrich their appreciation by recollecting the French Olympiad of 1924 which featured Scottish athlete and preacher Eric Liddell.

Shunning his preferred 100 metre dash because the final occurred on a Sunday, Liddell spent the day preaching in a Parisian church but was vilified in the UK as a traitor.

Opting for the 400 metre event held on July 11, 1924, Liddell entered the stadium, when a supporter slipped him a note citing Almighty God who said, "Those who honour me I will honour". Though not expected to perform well, he broke the Olympic record and won by five metres.

The traitor became a hero who went on to give his life in mission, eventually dying as a prisoner of war.

A friend recently referred to Peter Dutton as "Nowhere Man" as the Beatles tune was playing in the background.

I said that was a more fitting description of Anthony Albanese considering the position of his party in the "no man's land" between the two states his caucus declares is their policy.

A former member of the caucus now sits in "no man's land" in Parliament because she took a stand against a war that sickens the stomach with its nightly images.

Is this the same party that opposed the war in Iraq and Vietnam but now finds itself in an "AUKward" position needing to follow the US?

This is the band of brothers and sisters that should have championed same-sex marriage over a decade ago but were hogtied by a "softly, softly" unity ticket.

What wouldn't we give to have a government that reflected the thoughts of the majority of the nation and had the courage to make make a stand that would be noticed.

Professor David Lindenmayer from the Fenner School at the ANU claims that plantations can provide the wood forgone when state forests are not available for harvest.

If that is the case he may like to turn his demonstrable ability to influence people to provide capital to purchase high rainfall cleared land and plant and tend the trees for 60 plus years.

Then deal with people of a similar mindset to himself when the flora and fauna have moved into the plantation such as koalas thriving on the nutritious foliage.

The Trump shooting exposes us to another gushing round of American exceptionalism, with various statements to the effect that "this type of violence has no place in our democracy".

Yet in my lifetime I can recall at least five assassinations or assassination attempts on US presidents or presidential candidates.

Rather than having no place in American politics, violence is, in the words of Huey P Newton, "as American as cherry pie".

A letter (July 17) rightly condemns the recent RAAF aircraft fly over for the ceremonial change of senior commanders.

The RAAF is the best placed of the three services to actually kill or damage an enemy force.

It needs to keep its powder dry for real operational flying (and training for same).

Fuel is precious. Australia has inadequate capacity to produce and store aviation grade kerosene.

Cartoonists do get a degree of artistic licence but the July 10 Pope cartoon was irresponsible.

Anti-Semitism, especially since October 7, is a very serious issue in Australia. For him to seek to downplay it by suggesting it only relates to protest against the war in Gaza is morally bereft. I wonder if he would seek to minimise any other type of racism or bigotry.

And no-one from the Jewish community is trying to conflate all criticism of the war with anti-Semitism, as Pope alleges.

As the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has said, when people apply a standard to Israel that they don't apply to other countries, there can be anti-Semitism.

Tried to watch Hillbilly Elegy after Vance was announced as Trump's running mate. Couldn't finish it. Most self-indulgent sob story since Angela's Ashes. Every "illegal" asylum seeker to this country has been through far worse. And we lock them up.

I've just spotted the first blowfly of spring.

History tells us that someone has tried to kill almost one in five US presidents and almost half the attempts have been successful. No wonder they have trouble attracting high-quality candidates.

Re all the divisions now splitting so many Western countries. We must quickly learn to agree to disagree without being so very disagreeable.

We have reached surreal territory if residents of lakeside suburbs are able to use "heritage" considerations to oppose literally any building - even a boathouse - being added to the lakeshore (Letters, July 16). Perhaps some guardians of the lake would prefer that boathouses be relocated further inland. Majura Park maybe?

I have read Hillbilly Elegy, the book about rural poor in American Appalachia by Trump vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. It was years ago. I'm surprised he became so pro Trump. Vance was from a poor rural background and a Trump critic. How Vance thinks Trump will do much for the poor is beyond me. But a clever political move by Trump.

Australia made voting in federal elections compulsory in 1924 after an abysmally low voter turnout at the previous election. America should do it too, they cannot all be stupid enough to vote for Donald Trump.

Malcolm Brooks (Letters, July 13) displayed a below average understanding of mathematics when he referred to the "vague idea of average".

Perhaps, Ian Hansen (Letters, July 17), the wingnuts should leave the F-35s on whatever runways they inhabit to rust away. No point in flying them for anything if you are going to whinge about costs. These flights are also training exercises?

I enjoyed the F-35 flyover. It used to be said that the Merlin V-12 (used in the Spitfire during the Battle of Britain) was "the sound of freedom". While today's jets sound as good as that they fall into the same category. No harm in showing what we've got.

Iran's leaders can't be that smart. If they want to destroy America they'd be better off helping Trump into his second presidency, rather than trying to get rid of him.